Tori gets unstuck
by alicat13
Summary: Set after the episode 'Tori Gets Stuck'. Tori goes to visit Robbie after his operation when something unexpected changes how she feels towards him. Oneshot


**Soo, this is the first fic I've done for Victorious, hope you enjoy it!**

I'd woken up after a really satisfying sleep, having three pints of blood drained out of me was so tiring! I thought one pint of blood was bad enough; I hate needles, the thought of them makes me squeamish and shivery. Ugh. Having three pints of blood taken was just insane – no wonder I felt like I was going to collapse a few times. But I had to do it – it was for Robbie. He'd looked so small and scared in that hospital bed, I had just wanted to give him a big hug and make it all better. Even after the second-blood-bag-explosion incident, I felt like I could have killed him for that! I thought to myself that I could have just walked out and not given him a third pint of blood in spite, for him being so careless. Strange how I even thought about doing that to a friend.

With my mind on Robbie, I remembered how worried I was about him when we heard he was in the hospital. After the blood debacle I had forgotten to worry, only concerned about getting some sleep after Cat told me the operation had gone well. Now I was thinking about it, he was probably still in a lot of pain, having your stomach cut open can't be pleasant. I decided then that I would go and see him. I knew that his parents were out of town, he was stuck with his grandmother on his own. He was probably miserable, poor thing. A visit from a friend would certainly cheer him right up!

Getting ready to leave, I got a call from Cat. "Hello?" I asked, picking up the phone and trying to put make-up on at the same time.

"Hey Tori," Cat didn't sound like her usual cheery, happy self; she sounded serious. "I was just at Robbie's."

"How is he?" I cut her off, suddenly worried about him again.

"He's alright, don't worry!" I sighed in relief, "He was asking about you."

I discovered I had a nervous churning in my stomach for no apparent reason; when I questioned Cat why he was asking about me she replied with, "Oh, he was worried about you." That was strange, I was supposed to be the one doing the worrying here, not the other way round!

Driving over to Robbie's house, I started remembering little things about that day in the hospital; how he'd smiled when we walked in to see him and how he'd called me "sweet like taffy". I was still smiling as I pulled up at his house. Robbie's 'mamaw' opened the door, "Hi, Mrs. Shapiro!" I greeted cheerfully; I'd heard rumours from Cat about what she was like and I didn't want to get on her bad side, "Is Robbie in?" Instantly her scowl morphed into a smile as she motioned me in.

"Come in, come in! Are you Robbie's girlfriend?" she asked me, grinning up at me. I told her I wasn't and she replied with, "Oh, that's a shame. He needs one of those, and you're so gosh-darn pretty!" This was strange, I didn't think she would be nice to me after what Cat told me about her.

"Wow, thanks Mrs. Shapiro but I'm just his friend, Tori." I replied and her eyes lit up.

"Ooh, he's told me a lot about you, young lady!" she grinned, "Now go on, he's down the hall and to the left." I thanked her and walked to Robbie's room. The door was ajar so I knocked quietly and poked my head round the door. I was greeted by the sight of Robbie sitting up in bed, watching TV. "Aaaw!" was the first thing I thought to say as I walked into the room. He smiled and greeted me, turning off the television.

"Hey Tori, what brings you here?" he asked, as I sat down on the bed, facing him.

"I wanted to see if you were okay, I was worrying about you." He smiled at that. I brought out a box of cookies from my bag, "I brought you these. To make you feel better."

"Thanks Tori, you're the best" he leaned in to give me a hug and I put my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. I we pulled away he winced, holding onto his stomach where he had the operation.

"Are you okay?" I asked, because he seemed fine a second ago I had forgotten to worry about him. Now it all came flooding back.

"I'm fine, don't worry!" that was the second time someone had said that to me, I was starting to think maybe I was being a little protective. I realised I had grabbed onto his arm after the hug and I removed it now, feeling a little awkward and tucking my hair behind my ear. When I brought my hand down again, Robbie grabbed onto it and held it, "Thanks Tori. Really. For coming over to see me. You didn't have to, you've already done so much for me." He wasn't smiling now, his face had taken on a serious look, keeping eye contact with me. I glanced down at our intertwined fingers and back up at Robbie. He'd gotten one of those looks on his face and I knew I must have had, too. Before I knew it we were both leaning in, Robbie's fingers in my hair, on my cheek. Then I heard a voice from the hall, "You kids want some juice?" Mamaw shouted, and we sprang apart. I had jumped about a foot away from the bed so when Mamaw entered the room we must have looked so guilty.

"Uh, no thanks Mamaw, I'm gonna take off." I answered, picking up my bag and purposely not looking in Robbie's direction.

"Aw, that's a shame!" she turned to Robbie, "I like this one."

When I reached the doorway, Robbie called out, "Wait, you'll come back tomorrow?" I turned back to look at him and nodded. The image of him smiling at me after I promised I'd come back stayed with me for the entire car journey home.

I woke up the next day, hardly having slept. My mind was ticking away, all night and the day before it; churning out thoughts about Robbie, Robbie and me, what could have happened, what would have happened if his mamaw hadn't walked in. I was so conflicted, like there were two sides to my mind, both battling each other and neither winning. On the one hand, Robbie was so sweet and harmless, funny and cute. On the other, well, it was Robbie! The guy who brings a puppet to school, admittedly less now than he did before, and has an annoyingly unreciprocated crush on Cat! Or does he? Looking back on it, I hadn't seen him make any unwanted advances towards her for a while. Plus the way he was acting yesterday and the day before certainly didn't suggest he still had a crush on her. Unexpectedly this idea sounded good to me and I found myself excited about seeing Robbie again.

Although after I had gotten ready and was nearing his house, the nerves kicked in. I started to worry and doubted whether seeing him again was a good idea. By the time I pulled up to his house my mind was all over the place and my stomach was working over-time, I felt like if it was churning any more I would have been sick. Glancing at the front door to Robbie's house, I knew I couldn't walk up that driveway. I was just about to put the key back in the ignition but hesitated. I was getting frustrated at myself for not knowing what to do and decided to slump over and put my head on the steering wheel, just for a little while, until I made a real decision.

Deep breathing had helped me to calm down a little, my stomach had settled and I was forming coherent thoughts about making a decision when a tentative knock sounded on the window. I looked up and saw Robbie smiling at me from outside the car. Winding down the window I felt unfathomably embarrassed, I'm sure my cheeks were growing redder with every inch the window wound down. "Hey Tori, you want to come in?" he asked, I was so glad he didn't comment on my strange behaviour. He opened the car door for me and I stepped out, standing a bit too close to the boy in front of me.

Robbie wasn't saying anything, he was just looking at me from behind his glasses. I knew it was up to me to make the situation less awkward so I said, "You look healthy!" I smiled up at him but he still didn't say anything. I wanted to know what was going on in his head. I wanted him to say something. Anything. So I just carried on talking, "I guess a good night's sleep was all you needed to perk you right up, hey buddy?" The buddy thing was a mistake, it felt strange coming out of my mouth as I said it. It seemed as if he took a step back, making the distance between us look more acceptable for "buddies" but I was disappointed by him backing away from me. I didn't quite know what to do next so I just carried on talking, trying to repair some of the damage I had caused, "Y'know I sometimes find that that's what helps when I'm feeling ill..." I could feel myself babbling, getting annoyed at the sound of my own voice. My head was telling me to stop talking, but my mouth obviously wasn't listening. I had a feeling that he was going to take another step back so without thinking I reached out for the front of his shirt and held onto the material. That made my mouth stop babbling nonsensically and I paused, my eyes trailing from where my hand was holding onto his shirt to meet his eyes.

Whereas before he was moving backwards, now he stepped forward, cupping my face with his hands and he kissed me. Just like that. It was a short kiss, testing the water. He pulled away and gave me a quizzical look, raising his eyebrows. I felt his hands release my head and saw them retreat back to his sides. It was then that I made my decision. I sprung towards him, looping my arms around his neck and planting my lips firmly on his. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me in closer and deepening the kiss. We stayed like that for a while, on his driveway with my car door wide open. Then we heard his mamaw's voice from the front door, "Yay! Maury! Robbie's got himself a girlfriend."


End file.
